This case, Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. West-Ward Pharmaceuticals Int’l Ltd.,[1] arrived to the appeals court through an unusual, but not uncommon, route: a 35 U.S.C. §271(e)(4)(A) infringement resulting from a 21 U.S.C. §355(j) application, or the Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) (aka, generic drug approval process). However, the other aspect of this case is that …
Category: 101
35 U.S. Code § 101 – Inventions patentable. Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Fed Circuit Watch: Still Another §101 Decision Signals Sea Change
On February 14, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed down Aatrix Software, Inc. v. Green Shades Software, Inc.,[1] which signals a possible sea change in the §101 patent-eligibility analysis and potentially give patent holders some ammunition to fight invalidation of their patents. This opinion also tracks the rather complex federal court …
Fed Circuit Watch: Another §101 Decision, Different Rationale, May Signal Future Changes to Patent-Eligibility Analysis
As of February 14, 2018, at last count, there have been six substantive opinions rendered by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit relating to 35 U.S.C. §101, creating an unusually large body of §101 jurisprudence within only six weeks of the calendar year. Two of these opinions, Move, Inc. v. RE/MAX Int’l, Inc., …
Fed Circuit Watch: Improved Smartphone Display Interface Found Patent-Eligible
On January 25, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled claims directed to improved display interface for cell phones was patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. §101 in Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l. v. LG Electronics, Inc.[1] This case represents the second precedential one of the year where claims have been found patent-eligible by a …
Fed Circuit Watch: Finjan Survives Alice Test for Subject Matter Eligibility
On January 10, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit handed down Finjan, Inc. v. Blue Coat Systems, Inc.[1] Finjan sued Blue Coat, a subsidiary of rival Symantec Corp., for patent infringement of four of its patents dealing with cybersecurity methods and systems: U.S. Patent Nos. 6,154,844 (‘844), 7,418,731 (‘731), 6,965,968 (‘968), and …
USPTO Issues Public Comments for §101 Subject Matter Eligibility
By Brent T. Yonehara On July 30, 2017, the USPTO released its §101 report, Patent Eligible Subject Matter: Report on Views and Recommendations From the Public. The report is a rather dry recitation of the §101 legal framework better suited for a Patent Bar Exam prep course. However, there is an interesting comparative overlay of …
Alice in Wonderland: Software Patents in Light of Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l
By Brent T. Yonehara INTRODUCTION Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International was recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in the closing days of its 2013-2014 term.[1] In Alice, the Supreme Court found that patent claims that do not “transform” from patent-ineligible subject matter to a patent-eligible invention were abstract ideas outside the scope of …